Australian Open 2021: Dominic Thiem tames Nick Kyrgios, crowd to reach last 16

Dominic Thiem rallied from two sets down to register a victory against Nick Kyrgios in the third round of the Australian Open. Not only did Thiem have a battle a flamboyant Kyrgios, he also had to overcome a raucous crowd. The crowd seemed to be in a wild mood with just hours to go before Melbourne goes into a lockdown to check the spread of COVID-19.

Kyrgios seemed to be in a belligerent mode in the first two sets. He used every trick in the book, including underarm serves and tweeners. The local boy fed off the energy of the boisterous crowd at his favourite court, the John Cain Arena.

But last year’s runner-up and US Open champion Thiem, took all the blows in the first two sets, but latched onto the opportunities thereon to clinch the match 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Also read: Australian Open to continue without fans as snap COVID-19 lockdown announced in Melbourne

He will now play 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the quarter-finals, with the Bulgarian through after Pablo Carreno Busta retired injured in the second set.

“It was my first match against Nick on his favourite court with an amazing crowd, there are easier things to do,” said Thiem.

“That is one of the tougher challenges we have in our sport, you never know what is coming. Nick is a huge player when he is on fire, like today.”